Roasted Turkey with Fresh Herbs and Lemon

We have already thawed the turkey, now we are going to make a most delicious Roasted Turkey with Fresh Herbs and Lemon.

The turkey that I roasted was almost 13 lbs. If your turkey is larger, you can increase the below ingredients.

• 1 12.75 lb turkey
• 1 head garlic, remove outer papery layers, cut in half crosswise
• 1 medium onion, quartered
• 1 lemon, cut in half
• 4-6 sprigs each of thyme, sage, parsley, rosemary or any variation of about 16-24 sprigs of these fresh herbs
• 2 ribs celery
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted
• salt
• pepper

1. Remove giblets and neck from inside of turkey. Set aside the neck in refrigerator for homemade stock. I discard the giblets.

2. Wash inside and out of turkey. Pat dry.

3. Sprinkle the inside of turkey with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the garlic, onion, lemon, fresh herbs, celery.

4. Place turkey on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Tuck the wings and tie the legs together.

5. Brush the outside of turkey with the melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

6. Roast at 325 degrees. Roast 2 1/2 hours or “when cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165 °F as measured with a food thermometer. Check the internal temperature in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast.” That recommendation is from the USDA.

My turkey had a pop-up thermometer in it to let me know when it was done, but it is recommended that you check the temperature even if your turkey has a thermometer.

7. Cover turkey with foil and before cutting into it, let it rest for at least 20 minutes. This is the most important step and a key to turkey that is not dried out. So I’ll repeat, DO NOT CUT TURKEY FOR AT LEAST 20 MINUTES AFTER TAKING OUT OF OVEN.

I wish I could show you how to correctly carve a turkey, but I’m not very good at it, so I’m going to have to send you elsewhere to learn how to carve a turkey. But please come back, because Turkey Week isn’t over yet at Family Balance Sheet.

Enjoy all of the posts from Turkey Week 2010:

• How Much Turkey Will I Need?
• How To Thaw A Turkey
• Roasted Turkey with Fresh Herbs and Lemon
• To Stuff or Not To Stuff
• How To Make Turkey Gravy
• How To Make Turkey Stock
• Turkey Chili Potpie
• Turkey, Kale & Orzo Soup
• Baked Turkey, Macaroni & Cheese

Thanks for reading FamilyBalanceSheet. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS through your RSS Feed, please click here to sign up. Or Subscribe by Email. This post is linked to:

• Tempt My Tuesday at Blessed with Grace
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• This Week’s Cravings at Mom’s Crazy Cooking
• Works for Me Wednesday at We are that Family
• Prairie Story Recipe Swap